


On Being Careful

by Shyspyder



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/F, Jack and Kaia are normal people who work at a coffeeshop called Deja Brew, Kidnapping, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, also jack is pre-med, claire saves kaia from vampires, coffee shop AU, lots of pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:20:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28076121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shyspyder/pseuds/Shyspyder
Summary: In which Kaia works at a coffeeshop in downtown Sioux Falls, and Claire stops by in between hunts.
Relationships: Jack Kline & Kaia Nieves, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> This sounds a bit strange, but one of my favorite parts about Supernatural is how so many of the episodes take place in quiet, eerily mundane towns littered throughout the midwest. As a Minnesotan, it’s nice to see our unhinged demonic underbelly represented so vividly. Even if it’s from one of the worst shows in history.
> 
> Anyway! I’ve been wanting to write a cheesy coffee shop AU for a long time now, and I’ve really been getting back into this pairing lately. It only makes sense! It takes place as sort of a...half AU? The Winchesters aren’t really a thing, and both Jack and Kaia are normal human people who work at a coffee shop in downtown Sioux Falls. But! Claire is still a hunter, as is Jodie. Logically it definitely doesn’t make much sense, but here we are.

“One vanilla latte for...uh...Bailey?” Kaia frowned at the order.

The girl with the leather jacket and long blonde hair seemed to take a while to process what she said. But when she finally did, her head snapped up in surprise.

Kaia moved quickly. Putting the drink on the counter and moving towards the next one. Jack worked quietly beside her, his own rhythm matching her own. 

She wasn’t sure what to think about him at first. Jack. He was a nice enough kid. When he told her that he was pre-med at USF, she believed him right away. He had that trusting look in his eyes. But she sensed that he had his own demons.  She ought to know, after all.

She caught wind of his unsteady housing situation pretty quickly. She’d been there herself only a few months before. It wasn’t something you could hide forever, especially from a co-worker.

So, against any existing instinct, she offered up the spare room in her cramped two-bedroom three blocks away. 

The light that returned to his eyes made it worth it, she thought.

The girl stepped forward.

“So it’s Bailey today? You don’t look like a Bailey.”

She frowned and tilted her head. “Why not?”

Kaia smiled and shook her head. “You just don’t. Yesterday was Megan--I guess I can believe that. Then Susan. No offense, but you were definitely being lazy there. Still, I wasn’t expecting Bailey though. Also, vanilla latte? Seriously?”

“What? I like sugar.”

A million different comebacks sprang into Kaia’s mind. But she didn’t say a single one of them out loud. She looked at the girl, seeing how the blush spread on her cheeks. It made her duck her head. She could practically feel Jack laughing next to her.

She turned to walk away, so Kaia risked another glance.

Not-Bailey wasn't a regular customer. Not in a way that suggested daily appearances on the clock. But she came in every so often. Gave a new name and a new smile and most of the time, a new order. Kaia had always been proud of her ability to read her customers well. And this girl...well, she was more of the single black coffee type. But she had surprised her from the moment she stepped in through the door, and she continued to surprise her even now.

Today was a little bit different, though.

She could sense that something was off. Something was not quite right. Not just in her order, or in her name, but...something else. 

“Hey,” she said. “Is everything alright?”

The girl looked up in surprise, her hands wrapped tightly around the drink.

“Of course,” she said. “It’s just...I have this assignment for my anthropology class. It’s sort of kicking my ass right now.”

“You go to SFU too?” Jack piped up. Kaia groaned. The girl looked surprised. 

“Yeah,” she said. There was a pause. “Uh...Anthropology and Folklore.” She didn’t sound sure.

“Oh, I wouldn’t see you then. I’m pre-med.”

The girl looked relieved. Kaia frowned. 

There was a moment of awkward silence. She coughed. “I should probably go,” she said.

“Wait!” Kaia called. She hadn’t meant to say something, but she didn’t want her to leave. This is the most talk she had gotten out of her in months. She watched her turn around, her eyes shining above the poorly-lit countertop. It was easy to see them. It had been raining all day. 

“What’s your name?”

She grinned. “Bailey.”

“No it’s not.”

“You’re right. It’s not.”

And then she was gone.

* * *

That’s how it was.

Not-Bailey would come in almost every day. She would order her black coffee or vanilla latte or earl grey tea, just like before. The order was always different, but one thing always stayed the same. Before she would even speak, Kaia would search for it in her eyes. How much espresso she needed to get through the day.

They would smile, and Kaia would type the order into her register.

That didn’t mean she didn’t wonder. 

Just how difficult _was_ her anthropology and folklore major? She had heard Jack staying up well into the early hours, memorizing charts and formulas. It had been a long time since Kaia was in school, but she couldn’t imagine that not-Bailey’s schoolwork could be any tougher than his. Certainly not enough to warrant the dark, haunted look in her eyes. The one she wore when she thought Kaia wasn’t watching.

But Kaia would prepare her order anyway. She wouldn’t comment on the scar above her forehead or the bags beneath her eyes. 

And not-Bailey would look at her like she was exactly what she needed. Like she was the greatest thing in the world.

She shook her head uselessly. Oh, how she imagined things.

* * *

This time, it was a solid three days before she came back again. It wasn’t unusual for her to disappear for days like this, but not lately. Not for a long time now. Nervousness churned in her gut.

_ Deja Brew _ was located close enough to SFU campus for students to stop by before and after class. But it was more than that, though. It was the sort of place that made people  _ want _ to come back. It had given Kaia refuge when the local McDonalds wasn’t paying enough, yet she couldn’t stand the thought of getting, as the rest of the world would coin, a “real job.” It had given her a place to rest in the early hours of the morning and the late hours of the night, when she was struggling desperately to find a place of her own.

But then, slowly but surely, she  _ had _ . After a few months, her manager, Donna, had given her the assistant manager position. It was more than enough for a two-bedroom in a nicer part of town. It was enough to make a fresh start. 

It was enough to build a life of her own.

She had met Jack. Perhaps the one real friend she had here. They both covered the morning shift. Jack heading off to his biology classes for the afternoon, and Kaia staying behind to help Donna with scheduling. 

Donna had told her to drop it, but Kaia recognized the signs. The toothpaste left behind in the back bathroom. The truck that was in the same spot when she arrived in the morning. The thing was, Jack was a good kid. He was...kind. He took care of others. 

She had an extra bedroom anyway, and living alone could get awfully lonely. 

So, yeah. She had everything she could need. A home. A job. A friend and roommate. 

So why couldn’t she stop thinking about the girl with the vanilla latte? Her blonde curls flying freely against the hood of her leather jacket.  _ Her leather jacket! _ The way it was _ so obvious  _ that she tried too hard with her eyeliner, yet...it worked? It shouldn’t have worked, but it did. It really, really did.

She sighed and wiped yesterday’s mugs for the third time. 

She tried to tell herself that she was probably trouble. Who else would refuse to tell her own first name? Sioux Falls may be the largest city in South Dakota, but it was still a small town. She couldn’t hide like that forever. 

She paused, her hand still on the mug. What if she wasn’t just trouble, what if she was  _ in _ trouble?

Kaia shook her head. No. She was happy. She was comfortable. There was no use poking her head into any of that.

“I’m sure she’ll be back soon enough,” Jack called from the other side of the kitchen.

She blinked, the voice tearing her from her thoughts. “What?”

She could hear him laugh behind the oven. “You’re thinking about that girl, aren’t you? I can practically hear your thoughts from here.”

“I wasn’t thinking about anything.”

“Sure,” he said, voice lowering. “Is that why you’re always the first one to the register when she walks through the door every morning.”

Kaia looked away. She couldn’t look him in the eye. “That’s not true. I don’t even know her name.”

He paused. She could no longer hear rustling, or whatever it was he was doing. She paused too, glancing warily in his direction. 

“She’ll be back, you know. She always is.”

“I know,” she said quickly. “I wasn’t worried about that. She’s just a customer.” 

Jack didn’t say anything. She was grateful for it.

* * *

He was right, though. She was back.

Kaia nearly dropped her mug when she walked through the door. Face gleaming in the morning sun.

Whatever had been off about her before seemed no longer the case. She still wore the same leather jacket. Still walked in the same sturdy combat boots. Still gave her that smile that looked just a little bit like a smirk. But there was joy there too. 

“Hello!” She called cheerfully. 

Kaia gapped wordlessly.

“Hello, Bailey!” Jack called back. Her smile faltered. 

“Hello...”

“--Jack,” he said, pointing to his name tag and grinning. Kaia rolled her eyes.

She nodded, and smiled uncertainly. There was something that settled between the three of them. An acknowledgment, maybe. Their easy routine had been interrupted by a soft (but very clear) suggestion of acquaintanceship. Backed by the chatter of customers in the background.

“Jack,” she repeated. “That’s a nice name.”

“Thank you.”

She looked at her. She raised her eyebrows. That was her cue. “Kaia,” she said. “I’m Kaia.”

"Kaia." She smiled. Her stomach dropped

There was no use asking her name. She knew she wouldn’t give it.

* * *

Kaia was alone in  _ Deja Brew _ . She had already finished sweeping the floor and cleaning the dishes until they gleamed. The lights were still on in the lobby, but they cast dark shadows into the empty coffee shop. 

Normally she didn’t work this late. But Patience called in sick, and Alex had night classes on Tuesdays. Kaia didn’t mind, though. She already had Wednesday morning off, and she didn’t mind the long periods of silence broken only by the occasional night owl student. Even better, after hours after the shop had closed, and there was no one else who needed taken care of. When the rest of the city was asleep, the work in front of her became very clear. 

She sighed and leaned over to turn the music down. Donna had insisted on Christmas music. But the shop was finally closed for the night, there was no need for it now.

She smiled softly and shook her head. 

She didn’t have time to come up with a follow up thought. The sound of a car door slamming jerked her from the silence. She looked up in surprise.

She recognized the little blue car almost immediately. The car was so  _ unlike her _ . But she would recognize it anywhere. 

She frowned at the figure that emerged from the car. Something was wrong. She could tell that almost immediately. Something about the way she stumbled out from the driver’s seat and fumbled madly for the lock. 

Kaia raced towards the door.

“Hey!” She called. “What are you doing? Get in here, it’s freezing out!”

She did not hesitate, stumbling towards the open door. Kaia jammed her foot between the door and the frame and reached out, gripping her right shoulder and hauling her in. Warmth bloomed beneath her hand, traveling up her arm. She cursed at the pained look in her eye. 

“What the hell--”

“--Please,” she gasped. Her hair was sprawled out in front of her face, trailing alongside her nose. “I’m fine, really. I’m just--”

“You’re bleeding!” 

The girl looked down, blue eyes wide. It was as though she hadn’t even noticed.  _ Perhaps she hadn’t _ .

“Oh,” she said, voice soft. And then she looked up, grinning slightly. “Can you--uh…”

Kaia didn’t need to be told twice. Her hand had been hovering slightly over the makeshift bandage on her injured leg, but she met her eye and nodded. She knew that they kept a stash of paper towels beneath the cash register. She grabbed them and rushed back to her side, pressing them against her thigh.

“Why did you come here? You should get this checked out.”

But she was already shaking her head. “Jody would kill me.”

“Right.” She didn’t know who Jody was, but she recognized her tone. She shifted the paper towels so they were covering the wound completely. The girl winced, but Kaia looked away. It was hard to look her in the eye while she did this. “You should be fine, but you’ll have to lay low.”

There was a lapse in silence. 

“Thank you.”

“Yeah.” More silence. Kaia’s eyes flickered up. “You haven’t answered my question.”

“Huh?”

“Why did you come here? We closed an hour ago, and you never come in at night anyway.”

“Oh,” she looked away. “I didn’t--I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

This time, Kaia didn’t look away.

“You could...stay at my place, if you need to. Jack would be fine with it.” It was a risky thing to say. 

Her eyes widened and her cheeks turned red. “What? Oh no. Thank you, but I’m fine, really. I just needed to--”

“--right, no, of course I--”

“--stop in for a second and--”

She realized they were talking over each other, and quickly broke off, looking down awkwardly. 

She shuffled so that both legs were in front of her. Kaia moved to give her more room. 

“Claire,” she said.

Kaia looked up. She was smiling.

“My name is Claire, by the way.”

Oh.  _ Oh _ !

"Claire," she repeated. It was a nice name. It fit her well. She--Claire--grinned in response.

Kaia had been right before. She would need to be careful.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo another chapter!! It's a tiny bit shorter than before, but the next one is going to be longer :)

“I don’t know what to tell you, pal. I haven’t taken a single math class since I was seventeen.” Claire took a long sip of her iced tea and looked up Jack innocently.

He pursed his lips and looked down sadly at his textbooks.  _ Advanced Calculus. Algebra-Based Physics _ . Kaia didn't blame her. It was disgusting. 

Jack's eyes widened. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed--”

“Oh my god,” Claire scowled and reached forward, pulling the books towards her. “I was kidding, Jack.  _ Of course _ I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

Jack looked confused. “But you just said--”

“I’m sure she knows what she’s doing,” Kaia interrupted. She cupped the latte in her hands carefully, breathing in the steam that rose to the surface. 

He looked at her and grinned. Kaia ignored him and looked down at her coffee.  _ Shut up!  _ She screamed in her mind. _ I know! _

In the past few days, Claire had become...friends? Was that the right word? 

It was more than an acquaintance. Something had changed since that night in the _Deja Brew_ lobby. It was after (and perhaps because) of that moment when she stumbled through the door, blood dripping down her leg.

They talked for a long time after that. They talked about...about a lot of things, really. Their favorite books. The best route to walk to campus. How it feels after a long day of driving.

Their past.

Well, they talked about Kaia’s past. Claire didn’t talk much about her own. But she hadn't asked about it either. That wasn’t what that night had been about. Kaia felt strange about it. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she could actually talk about her past. Her parents. Why she had ended up in Sioux Falls. It wasn’t like she was ashamed or anything. But for once, she could just  _ be _ . It was nice. It was needed. 

But there was something else there. Something that made it difficult.

Yes, Kaia and Claire were friends now (the more she thought about it, the more confidently she could say that yes, they were friends). But something hurt there, too. Were friendships supposed to hurt like that? Kaia hadn’t had enough of them to know for sure. Her friendship with Jack didn’t. She didn’t look up when he walked into the room. She didn’t feel the breath leave her so suddenly and  _ so violently _ . She didn’t close her eyes after he left, and feel the whole world change just a little bit.

Claire was different. She ought to have known that from the first moment she stepped into the lobby of  _ Deja Brew _ . Perhaps she had. She just didn’t know anymore.

But now, she was peering over Jack’s textbooks, squinting her eyes and staring at the formulas. “You have ‘x’ amount of information here, don’t you? Just...try to find something about it that you can remember. Something to make it easier.”

Jack was frowning, looking at the formulas again. “I only have one night, though. I can't memorize all of this in one night.”

Claire shrugged. “Nothing Kaia’s coffee can’t fix. What time is your test tomorrow?”

“Eight.”

She cringed. “Yeesh, never mind. I’m sorry kid, but you brought that on yourself.” 

He groaned and leaned back, rubbing his eyelids with the palms of his hands. “You’re right. Pre-med was a mistake. Maybe I should switch to Anthropology.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Kaia scowled. “You’re the only pre-med at SFU who isn’t the most annoying person in the world. No one so un-annoying like you can fail a stupid math test. Right Claire?”

Claire looked up, snapped out of a deep thought. 

“Huh?”

Kaia frowned.

So that was the other thing.

Claire was weird about academics. She was just...she was weird about it. She didn’t like to talk about her classes. Or if she did, she never chose to. 

If Kaia didn’t know any better, she would have said that she was ashamed of it or something. But that was such a  _ strange _ thing to think about. Why would she be ashamed of her  _ college major _ ? It didn’t make any sense.

One explanation could be that she was lying about being in school. But why was that so damning? Kaia dropped out of high school and got her GED. No, there was something else. Claire had demons too, she just didn’t trust her yet. Kaia could accept that. Of course she could.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t wonder.

* * *

Claire began stopping by more and more often. She began studying in the lobby with the other students. Not that she was friend _ ly _ with them per se. Not in the way that she was with Kaia and Jack, but she smiled and said good morning. She settled in her favorite corner table. It was a routine. She would order her drink--a different one than the day before, of course, and pulled out her laptop.

And Kaia wouldn't watch her. She swore, she was not watching her. Not like that. But she would catch her eyes sometimes. In the moments between taking a sip of coffee and clicking away at her laptop. Her eyes flickering across the screen and up towards the counter.

It was religious, how she reminded herself.  _ Be careful, be careful.  _

She looked away and smiled sadly. 

There were some days in which Claire would stay until the end of the shift.

Patience had called in sick a few times more. Turns out her allergies were more like the flu. Donna needed someone to cover the nights.

Kaia didn't mind.

As the holidays drew closer and more students went home for the remainder of the month. Donna felt comfortable scheduling Jack by himself while Kaia took the night shift, leaving Alex and Donna to cover the weekends.

Kaia wondered, though…

She didn’t work with Alex very often, but when she did, she could see how she and Jack exchanged glances. Especially when Claire was studying in the lobby.

_ Was it really that obvious? _

No. There’s no way. Alex wouldn’t shift her entire schedule just so…

She shook her head. She ought to stop that thought before she could even reach the end of it. Nothing good would come from that sort of thing.

“Big final?” She asked. Claire looked up from her laptop. They were alone, now.  _ Deja Brew _ was only open for another half hour, but Kaia would likely be there for at least another two. She still had some paperwork to do, not to mention updating the schedule to show the recent changes.

“Huh?” She asked.

Kaia gestured to her laptop. “You’ve been on that thing all day. What are you looking at?” She leaned over to see the screen. A picture of some kind of monster stretched across, teeth bared and eyes stretched wide. In the corner of the screen was a message bubble, and a half-filled out word document on the other side.

Claire caught her looking and lowered the screen so Kaia couldn’t see. “Uh...yeah,” she said. “Folklore studies. Vampires.”

“Vampires? You can take a class in that?”   


“I guess so.” 

There was silence between them. Kaia knew that she was leaving something out. Maybe she wasn’t lying about the class  _ exactly _ , but she was sure there was something off. Something that Claire wasn’t telling her.

She was brought back vividly to when they were sitting on the floor of the lobby. Claire, with a bandage pressed to her leg and her lips pulled back in a scowl. Kaia, watching her with wide eyes. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to...I don’t know, see someone about that?”

Claire shook her head. “I’ve had worse,” she said.

Kaia didn’t ask what _that_ meant. She didn’t ask if she was in trouble, or if she needed help. Part of her hated herself for it, but another part of her knew where she was coming from. Claire was not the type to tell her all of her secrets so quickly. She was, after all, still a stranger.  _ But she was her friend, wasn’t she?. You don’t barge into someone’s workplace in the middle of the night with a shredded leg without being at least a little bit friends. _

So she stood here now, peering over her shoulder as she struggled to close out her tabs. There was more to the story here, and Kaia was dead curious. But she would wait, because Claire wanted her to. She would wait, because there are some things that are hard to say.

She would wait, because somehow,  _ some way _ , she knew she was worth it.

* * *

“You know she likes you, right?” Alex said casually. 

“What?”

“Biker barbie. You should have seen her face when she saw that I was working last night. She looked so betrayed. It was kind of funny, actually.”

“Oh.”

Alex stopped scrubbing the table, and looked up at her. Eyebrows raised dramatically and hair tied behind her. “ _ Oh _ ? You’ve been pining after this girl for months, and that’s all you have to say?”

Kaia shrugged. In truth, her stomach was churning violently and the tips of her fingers were growing cold at the thought. 

“I don’t get you,” she said. “I mean, I get it. She’s hot. And mysterious. If you’re into that sort of thing, which you clearly are. But my god, one of you has to do something. I’ll quit if you don’t.”

Her stomach dropped. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Alex laughed. “Starbucks pays less than Donna, but they're closer to my house. Don’t think I won’t do it.”

“But you’d have to put up with business majors.”

She frowned and leaned back on the table. “God, you’re right. All the more reason for you to do something about this.”

Kaia forced herself to meet her eye. “And what can I do, Alex? I mean...come on. I don’t know if she likes girls.”

“You can’t be serious. She wears a  _ leather jacket and combat boots _ .”

“Straight girls wear leather jackets and combat boots.” Kaia knew that she sounded ridiculous. She knew that she was making up excuses. But she was still working through her feelings herself. To say them out loud, even to Alex, was a terrifying prospect. 

Alex shrugged.

She didn't bring it up again.

* * *

Claire came in early that next morning. Kaia was surprised, since it had been a few days since she last stopped by. She figured she was busy with that folklore studies final. 

There was something different in her expression this time. She didn’t step up the counter to order her drink, nor did she sit at her usual table. Instead, she met Kaia’s eye and moved to the side of the door.

Kaia left Jack to keep the front register and met her there.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

Claire looked back at Jack, and then at her. “Nothing,” she said. “I just...I’m going to be away for a little bit. To Louisiana, for a...well, it doesn’t matter. I just wanted to let you know.”

She didn't understand.

“Um...ok?”

She shook her head and closed her eyes. “Never mind, this was a mistake, I--”

Without even thinking, Kaia reached forward and grabbed her wrist. “No wait, Claire--”

Her eyes sprang open, and met hers. She couldn’t breathe. 

“What is it?” She whispered.

There was a long period of silence. Finally, Claire spoke. There was something broken in her voice. It was a stab of pain and uncertainty. 

“You’re a good person,” she said. “You helped me. You should have called the cops, but you helped me anyway. You didn’t ask any questions. You can’t...you can’t know how much that meant to me.”

Kaia’s heart was beating so loud. “Of course,” she whispered. “I’ll always help you.”

Claire smiled sadly. She was so close, that Kaia could see the slight smudge of eyeliner in the corner of her left eye. She wanted to reach forward and brush it away. She wanted to say  _ something _ . To ask what there even was for her in Louisiana. She wanted...she wanted to do a great many things. 

But she didn’t do anything. She watched as Claire smiled one last time, her hand tracing her own as she took her arm gently from her grip. 

Claire was gone. And Kaia was standing in the doorway, shivering in the cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell with me on Tumblr: [shyspyderr](https://shyspyderr.tumblr.com/)


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little shorter, but the last two are going to be LONG ones, so yea.
> 
> WARNING for canon-typical violence and kidnapping.

Claire hadn’t been lying. 

Four days now, and she was still out of town.

Four days now, since Kaia had last seen her.

She didn’t think she would miss her so much. She wondered, of course, whether or not she truly missed her, or if she had mistaken it for a longing to know what she had meant. 

And she did. She longed to know if there was something else in her eye when she said goodbye. When she stood in that doorway, looking _like that_. 

_And Kaia had seen it. She swore she had._

Jack could sense that something was wrong. She could see it in the way that he cast concerned looks in her direction. The way that he cast concerned looks towards the door, as if following her gaze.

Claire was his friend too, after all.

“She’s going to come back, right?” She heard him ask.

“I don’t know,” she said. “She didn’t say how long she’d be gone.”

“She didn’t even--”

“--I don’t know, Jack,” she snapped. She regretted it as soon as she spoke, but she couldn’t stop. “I don’t know if she’s coming back at all.”

There was silence, but she couldn't bear to look at him.

She had to leave. She had to step away, even if for just a second. She needed to get some air.

She still didn’t look at Jack’s face as she left. She couldn’t, already feeling terrible for yelling at him. But she was feeling too much and her head was a haze of confusion, it was too much to handle. She needed to go for a walk.

Alone, preferably.

She stepped out into the cold December evening. 

It snowed often in Sioux Falls this time of year, but this one hadn't been as bad as years' past. The holidays were only weeks away, but Kaia never would have known if not for the lights that decorated the shops across the street. 

She liked it here, in this part of town. In this corner of the state. It was calm. It was a place to build something that looked like a life. If not that, then it was a place to build something of her own. It had been a long time since she had anything like that.

And she was happy. She had Jack and Donna. Alex and Patience. The students who smiled at her when she remembered their order. 

Some days, when things felt quiet, she even thought about stepping onto that campus as a student. Maybe she’d major in literature. Or drama. Or anthropology, like Claire. Maybe she’d be a teacher or social worker or doctor, like Jack. 

There were possibilities in Sioux Falls. Possibilities that she wouldn’t have dared to dream of before she came here. 

Part of her still wondered, though. Part of her missed the road.

She closed her eyes and breathed in the cool air. 

She wondered where Claire was. She wondered if she was driving still, or if she had made it to Louisiana. She wondered if she liked it there more than she liked Sioux Falls. If she would come back at all.

She shook her head. It was a dumb thought. She knew it as soon as it came to mind. But she couldn’t help it. It was hard to think of anything else.

Another breeze blew through the streets. It had been long enough, she would need to get back. But something caught her eye.

There were two figures near her, across from the street. It started to get dark out, and the roads were emptying out quickly. 

Kaia shivered and pulled her jacket closer around her chest. She eyed them suspiciously. There was something off about the way they were looking at her. Well, they were  _ looking _ at her. It was a man and a woman in big dark cloaks, staring at her from across the road. Their gazes were unwavering, and their mouths curved into triumphant grins.

She looked around her. There was no one in the area.  _ Wonderful _ . She decided that her best course of action would be to head back to  _ Deja Brew _ . Though Jack was probably doing just fine on his own, she knew that he would begin to worry about her very soon. Especially if she didn’t come back until shift change. She also knew that he had a morning class the next day, and it would be cruel to make him wait until she came back.

And he would. Jack would wait for her to come back. He was good like that. 

She didn’t make it far, though. The two figures were drawing closer. She reached back, clutching her phone in one hand in her car keys in the other.

Just as her hand curled around the keys, she felt something latch around her arm, twisting it back violently. She yelped, half in pain and half in surprise, but a second hand was stuffed in front of her face, muffling it. Her heart was pounding. She gripped the keys tightly in her hand. Even though she could feel the hand gripping her arm, she had enough room to jab the figure in the ribs with the key.

“Ow! Fuck!” the man cursed. Kaia felt something in her rise in triumph. It was wrenched from her quickly, though, as the other figure lunged forward and wrenched the keys from her hand. She tried to twist back around, but received a punch to the gut in response.

She doubled over, gasping as the air left her lungs. 

“You got her?” It was a woman who spoke.

The man huffed. “Yeah,” he said. “Sneaky little thing.”

_ What do you want? _ Kaia had meant to hiss the words out loud, but she was still winded. Instead, she settled for pulling in as many breaths as she could. 

“Who is this, anyway?” She asked. “You went after her pretty quick.”

“She’s the hunter’s girl,” the other man hissed. “The barista.” 

The women looked back at her, eyes wide and teeth bared.  _ Teeth bared! _ Kaia had to blink a few times to make sure she was seeing right. Perhaps the pain was making her hallucinate. 

“Are you certain?” She hissed back. 

The man’s face was screwed up in an expression of triumph. “Of course I’m certain,” he responded. Kaia felt her arm growing cold beneath his grip, twisted dangerously behind her back. She bit back a sob. 

“I watched her go to that cafe. She talked to this one the longest. I saw the look in her eye. She’ll come for her.”

“No she won’t!” Kaia gasped. Fear bubbled up inside her at the mention of Claire. Even though it hurt to speak, she needed them to hear this. “She won’t come for me!”

“Quiet!” Her breath was cut off. She could feel a hand tighten around my throat, the world growing darker at the edges. She could still hear what was happening, though. She still knew that she was being dragged.

“Is she right?” The woman hissed to her partner. “This might be the right girl, but how do we know that the hunter will come for her?”

The man looked down at Kaia. She swallowed, and refused to break eye contact. She didn’t know what she was trying to convey, when she stared back at him. But her mind was screaming for Claire. Screaming to tell her to  _ stay away _ . 

The woman was right. There was a slim chance that Claire would come for her. Who was she to her? A barista? A friend? Not someone worth risking her life for. 

This was too much for her to think about. What did they mean by hunter? She thought that Claire was a student. Maybe she still was a student. 

_ But there was more to it then that. She knew there was more to it then that _ . The hesitancy when she talked about her past. The way she didn’t really ever talk about her past at all. Not only that, but her future. 

Sobs were catching on her breath. Claire had been trouble. She knew that the moment she walked in, leather jacket and sly grin. Kaia had been lost the moment she ordered whatever ridiculous, impossible-to-predict latte. Now, she was her only hope. But from the look at these people, their  _ fangs _ , she knew it would be deadly. _ Stay away, Claire, _ she prayed. _ Stay away. _

The man looked down at Kaia, and she felt her stomach curl in disgust. He grinned. "Oh yes," he whispered. "She'll come for her."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell with me on Tumblr: [shyspyderr](https://shyspyderr.tumblr.com/)


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second to last chapter! Just like before, this one also contains canon-typical violence.

She didn’t remember much.

Not all that much, at least. There were times in which she could hear things. Arguments between her captors mostly. She never heard her own name specifically, but she perked up when she heard Claire’s. Hissed between words and spat out angrily.

She closed her eyes before they could notice her listening, and tilted her head away. She didn’t open them again until she was certain that they were gone (and even then, she was not completely certain. But it was better than nothing, and she needed to know). 

She opened her eyes slowly, keeping her chin from moving with her eyes as she struggled to examine the scene around her.

It was a...barn. At least she thought it was a barn. It certainly looked like a barn, with faint dark red paint covering the wood. There were lots of them in South Dakota. She could be anywhere. But she had learned enough from Patience’s true crime podcasts to know that she had to learn as much as she could if she had any hope of being found.

She risked moving her face just a little bit to the side. She noticed a small pile of tools in the corner. A sack of chicken feed. Some dog leashes. Bags of...oh god.

She looked away before she could be sick. Was that blood? It certainly looked like it. Memories of her kidnapping rushed back to her.  _ The fangs _ . The two of them had not been people. Not in the way that she knew. Kaia was in no place to accept anything else then that, but she knew that she had to. This was not the time to dwell on impossible things.

She shifted slightly, wincing in pain. So...how could she defend herself from a couple of vampires? They had mentioned Claire. Many times, in fact. A sick feeling sunk in her stomach. They had kidnapped her because they believed Claire would come for her.

_ God, Claire. What kind of anthropology final is this? _

Thankfully, her shifting had gone unnoticed. She could just catch the slightest glimpse of one of the... _ vampires _ ...in the corner. The man, scrolling through something on his phone. The woman was standing not too far from him. And she was pacing anxiously. 

“I’ve seen this girl fight,” she hissed. “You don’t want to get on her bad side.”

The man rolled his eyes. “Please,” he said. “Remember Gordan Walker? We’ve survived worse. Remember why we’re doing this, lover.” 

She snarled in response. Kaia jerked in surprise, but the vampire was too angry to notice her movement.

“No,” he said, voice dipping lower. “She’ll come for her. We just need to wait it out.”

“I’ll make sure the windows are secure,” the woman said. She still didn’t sound like she believed him, but she left anyway. Kaia watched her walk away. The man did not follow her, but he left the corner where Kaia was being kept anyway. 

She used the opportunity to open her eyes wider and move her chin again, trying to get a better read on the building she was being kept in.

She had been right about the tools and the chicken feed and yes, even the blood. Bags of it, even. Thank god the victims weren’t there themselves, skin pale and lifeless. She didn’t need to see that. 

Her hand snaked down to her jean pocket. Sure enough, her phone had been taken. She had known that, of course, but confirming it only made her stomach sink lower. Her one form of communication with the outside world. _Her only hope of contacting_ _ Claire _ _._ She still remembered the morning that she had given her her number. It wasn’t an exciting exchange. She offered to get takeout for Kaia and Jack during finals week, when the lines for coffee were pushed back too far to escape for even a few minutes. She took both of their phone numbers, in case one of them changed their mind about their order

Kaia had wondered at the time if that had been a strange thing--taking their phone numbers just for that. She hadn’t dared look Claire in the eye when she gave it, though. Not when her own heart had already been racing. Alex's words echoing in her head. The look on Jack's face. All of it, really.

And the man had been so  _ sure _ . He insisted that she would come for her. She was bait, meant to lure Claire back to Sioux Falls. It frightened her to know that this man could be right. 

“What are you doing!” A voice shrieked across the room.

Kaia was snapped from her thoughts in an instant. She looked up at the woman, who was towering above her. 

She didn’t have time to learn much, though. 

The world grew dark again. She was getting tired of this.

* * *

Kaia didn’t know how much time had passed. After she came to, she stirred carefully, shifting her eyes to the corner window. Most of it had been covered by a thin wood board, but she remembered the light that poured through before. It was dark when she had been taken. Then it was light when she woke up. Now it was dark again. It could have been a day since she was taken. She doubted, and hoped, that it hadn't been any longer then that.

She groaned and shifted, trying to stifle the noise so that she wouldn’t be knocked out again.

“Sorry about him,” the woman said. She was in the corner, staring at Kaia with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

She groaned again and shifted.

The woman rolled her eyes. “Here,” she said, and handed her a small bottle. It was ibuprofen. She looked at the label carefully, and then looked back up at the woman. She didn’t trust her.

“Take it, don’t take it. I don’t really care,” she said. Something dark flashed in her eyes though, when Kaia cast it to the side. It was enough for her to know that she made the right decision. “It will help with the headache, if you change your mind.”

The headache  _ was _ pretty bad, but Kaia wasn’t stupid. She wasn’t taking anything these people gave her. Even if they knocked her out again. She winced at the thought.

“Where am I?” She forced out. The words felt strange in her chest. Like they were pushing against her. 

“Somewhere safe.”

She scoffed, and gestured towards the bags of blood. It was the woman’s turn to wince. 

“Yeah. That. Look, this isn’t about that. Or you, really. It’s about stopping your friend from killing mine.”

“And how many people have you killed?” It was a risky thing to say to someone who had her bound and trapped in an unknown location, but she spat out the words anyway. She wanted to make her uncomfortable. If she was going to go down, it might as well be with a fight.  _ It might as well be before Claire got here.  _ I f  _ she got here _ . 

The woman was unfazed, though. Her eyebrows arching slightly as she looked down at Kaia. “Only when it is necessary.” 

There was nothing behind her eyes when she said that. Just a calm, coordinated certainty. She shook her head and looked away. 

“Don’t talk to her,” a man’s voice snarled. Kaia would have winced, but she had been expecting it. She heard a car door slam outside and boots scrape against the half-frozen ground. 

“I was just making sure she was still alive.” The woman stood straighter, moving away from the wall she had been leaning against. She looked at the man with a level gaze. “That’s what this is all about, right?”

The man did not answer. Instead, he handed her his shotgun. “ _ This _ is what this is about,” he said. “Don’t forget that, Sara. And don’t play with your food.”

The woman--Sara--glanced at Kaia briefly. She narrowed her eyes. “Fine,” she said. 

Kaia wanted to shrink into herself. To make things worse, she could feel herself beginning to shiver, her body overcome by the unheated building and her throbbing skull.

Jack had to be wondering where she was by now. Maybe he called the police. He certainly would have called Donna, at least. She used to be a cop before she opened  _ Deja Brew _ . That was a long time ago, but she probably still had friends on the force.

Kaia looked back at the tools. At the blood staining the blades. She hadn’t noticed that part before. She looked away, swallowing back the hitch in her throat. 

God, this was too much.

There was another slammed door. Another crunch of boots.

“Shit,” Sara snarled. “I thought we had more time than this, Paul!”

The man--Paul--bared his teeth ( _ fangs! _ ), and pulled out his shotgun, gripping it tightly. 

“It’s been long enough. She won’t stand a chance.”

And then she was there

_ Claire!  _

The girl with the leather jacket and combat boots. The girl who ordered something different every day. The girl who did not trust easily, but had given Kaia as much as she could afford. That girl hunted vampires, and that girl was here to save her.

Kaia gasped, pulling herself up slightly so that she could see better.

She met her eyes. There was a deep concern hidden behind the anger in her eyes. Kaia had seen that look before, but never on Claire. It was a frightening thing. There was a soft smile that flashed across her face, so fast that she could have missed it. Reassuring her that things would be alright.

Kaia wanted to believe her. She really, really did. But Claire’s eyes were less certain than her soft smile. Perhaps she wouldn’t have noticed it so easily if she hadn’t spent so much time looking into those eyes already. If she hadn’t known what she was looking for.

“You made me drive all the way from New Orleans,” she hissed. "It's a long drive." She pulled the knife from her belt. It looked as though it had been dipped in blood, dark and gleaming beneath the fluorescent lights. “How long did you think it would take for me to find you?”

Paul stepped forward, his eyes wide. “Not long enough,” he said, and jerked his head towards Kaia. “Your  _ friend  _ wasn’t so certain you’d show up at all. But we thought differently.”

Anger flared across Claire’s face. “You thought right.”

Kaia couldn’t watch directly. She could hear the gunshots. In the corner of her eye, she could see Claire dive from the bullets, her own firing loudly. 

The rest was quick. Claire burying her knife into Paul’s torso, Sara crying out. The sound of her grief was almost enough for her to feel a stab of sympathy. But then she remembered the dangerous look in her eyes when she turned down the ibuprofen.  _ Almost _ . 

There was a fluidity to Claire’s movements. An ease in which she moved to avoid the shower of bullets and grimaced in concentration as she aimed her own. Each one of them was conveniently far, far away from Kaia’s corner.  _ She knew what she was doing _ . She had hunted like this before. There was no doubt of it.

Kaia didn’t have time to dwell on it, though. She felt herself pulled up from the post she had been leaning against, a knife pressed to her throat.

“Make another move and I’ll slit her throat,” Sara snarled. “Don’t think I won’t do it.”

Claire’s reaction was quick. Her eyes widening and her feet stumbling back. “Ok, ok, ok,” she said quickly, hands raising up.

Kaia yelped slightly when she was jerked back, but she had been expecting this. The shivers that had taken over her body only seemed to get worse, and her head was throbbing dangerously, but the adrenaline was keeping her awake and focused. 

“Drop the knife.”

Claire did not do it at first. She met Kaia’s eyes, wide and uncertain. It was a long, terrible moment of tension.

But she had expected something like this. She knew that Sara could feel her shaking form, and understand the extent of her weakness.

But Kaia knew the true extent of it. She knew the fire that was pumping through her. The desperate need for this to end. She used that to her advantage, shifting her arm slightly and then…

She jerked her elbow into Sara’s chest.

She didn’t know much about vampires. Until a few hours ago, she didn’t even know they existed. Hell, she still wasn’t really sure they existed. From the brief time in which she watched Sara and Paul, she knew that they were stronger than humans. But like humans, they were still susceptible to surprise. 

So that’s what Kaia provided.

It was enough for Claire to snap into action, lunging forward with her knife and burying it into her chest.

Kaia stumbled back. She pressed herself back against the post and slid down, watching Claire step back from Sara’s corpse. 

She could feel herself sinking back. The adrenaline slowly leaving her body now that they were finally gone.

Claire looked at her. The anger was gone, now. All that was left was deep concern. 

“Hey,” she muttered. “Are you ok?”

Kaia nodded. She couldn’t stop nodding. The shaking had overtaken her body once more, all the energy gone. Sobs came next, maybe. She couldn’t really remember.

She remembered Claire at her side, though. She remembered her hands pressed into the sides of her arms and her voice unbelievably calm.

Yeah. She remembered that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell with me on Tumblr: [shyspyderr](https://shyspyderr.tumblr.com/)


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter!! This is the first time I've ever actually finished a multi-chapter fic, so I'm pretty proud of myself. Thank you all for following along, this was a ton of fun to write and I have such a special place in my heart for this ship <3

There was sun this time.

It poured through the curtains, resting gently on her cheeks. It was a comforting warmth. The first thing she felt when she began to come to, groaning slightly as she shifted her head.

There was a faint beeping sound in the background. Something that came in and out as her mind drifted. 

There was the strong smell of disinfectant, masking the smell of blood that echoed in her memory. She could feel the cheap furniture and scratchy hospital sheets against her skin, too. Much different from the straw and barn wood that she had grown unfortunately used to. 

All the things that told her she was safe. That no true harm would come to her anymore.

Light danced behind her eyelids. She didn’t want to open them at first. Not only to bask in the comfort of safety, but because the sunlight would all but guarantee a blinding headache. 

Her memories were beginning to trickle back. Quicker than she could process them. 

Claire…

She had saved her. 

Did she save her? 

Those were  _ vampires _ , and she had killed them like it was nothing. Like she had done this a hundred times before. A flurry of knives and bullets and bared teeth.

But it made sense, didn’t it? If there was anyone that could kill a vampire, it was Claire Novak.

She needed to see her. She needed to tell her that she understood. Or...ok maybe she didn’t understand, but she wanted to. She wanted so badly that she could hardly stand it.

Still, she took her time blinking her eyes open. Despite the very clear sense of safety that surrounded her, it took a long time for it to truly settle in. 

She looked to her side, blinking away the blurriness.

Claire was there.

She was sitting on her left, on the same side as the window. The light streamed through her golden hair, filtering onto the bed sheets. 

She looked...well, she looked kind of awful. Dozing in a restless slumber, her hand only inches from Kaia’s. She moved forward to brush it slightly, watching Claire shift in surprise.

“They said you would come for me,” she murmured. “The vampires...they said you would know where I was, and that you would come.” 

She hadn’t meant to say it out loud. She certainly hadn’t meant to reveal to her that she had been awake for this much time, but it slipped out anyway, her raspy breath betraying the exhaustion in her bones. 

Claire’s head snapped up, her eyes bloodshot red and dark bags beneath her eyes. She hadn’t slept well. There was a moment in which they just stared at each other. Neither willing to move first. Neither willing to speak or move or act.

Kaia groaned and shifted slightly. It seemed to break something between them. Claire stood up at once, still looking unsure.

“I’m fine,” Kaia rasped quickly. “Just tired.”

Claire shook her head, and looked down. “That’s not right,” she whispered. 

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

She paused, eyes widening. And then she laughed. It was a broken and awkward kind of laugh. “I’m supposed to be the one reassuring you, not the other way around.”

She didn’t have anything to say to that. Perhaps she was right, but she didn’t care. She was just glad they were both alive and for the most part unscathed.

_ Were they though? _

“Are you…”

“I’m fine,” she whispered. She smiled at her, but it looked forced.

There was a beat of silence. Kaia knew that one of them would have to bring it up eventually. The elephant in the room. The vampire-shaped elephant.

“Those were vampires,” she said bluntly. No use beating around it.

Claire didn’t look surprised. If anything, her expression was...glum?

“Yeah,” she said. “I--”

“--hunt vampires,” she finished for her.

It made sense. In a weird, twisted sort of way. It made a lot of sense, actually.

“You’re not an anthropology student either.”

“No. I’m not. I...I’m not even a student. I’m a hunter.”

She was looking increasingly uncomfortable. Was it possible for a person to look like they wanted to be right where they were and literally anywhere else both at the same time? If so, Claire looked like that.

Her instinct was to change the conversation. To change it to something else.  _ Anything  _ else, really. But she was laying in a hospital bed and felt like her chest had been caved in. Discomfort was a luxury she just had to turn down.

“How long have you been doing this?”

Claire shrugged. “A couple of years. Jodi, my foster mom, taught me everything I knew. She never...well, she never wanted me to have any part of this life. But my father…” something dark flashed in her eyes, but Kaia wouldn’t push it. She knew there would be time for such things later. “She got dragged into the life, and so did I.”

“Oh,” she said.

Claire looked at her. “I understand if you don’t want to see me again.”

“I didn’t say that,” she said quickly. 

Kaia knew she would have to do something. She knew that Claire would not. Not with her sitting like this, injured and kidnapped from the things that she hunted.

_ She thinks it’s her fault _ , she mused. Maybe it was.

She was tentative. She reached forward slowly, curling her fingers slightly around her own. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for Claire’s head to snap up in surprise, her eyes wide and her mouth gaping open.

“I don’t blame you,” she whispered. Her voice was so soft, she wondered if Claire had even heard her at all. But she did. There was a look in her eye when she said that. A glint of disbelief and reassurance.

A loud knock on the other side of the door interrupted them. They both jumped in surprise, Claire looking at her in alarm.

“Come in!” she called.

Jack burst into the room, his eyes wide as he rushed to her side. Alex and Donna were following close behind.

“They wouldn’t let us all in at once, so I told them we were family,” he said. He sounded apologetic, but Kaia shook her head. 

“It’s ok,” she said. “We are.”

She glanced over at Claire, who was edging towards the door nervously. She didn’t want her to leave the room. She didn’t want her to leave  _ her _ . There were still so many questions to ask. So many things she needed to know.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said to him. She looked at the rest of them. Alex and Donna, who looked out of breath. “All of you.”

She turned so that she was looking at Donna. “Uh...sorry I won’t be in tomorrow,” she said, gesturing to the IV.

Donna’s eyes widened as anger flared in her eyes. “Are you kidding me?” she said, though not too unkindly. “You were  _ kidnapped _ , Kaia! If it weren’t for--”

She cut off, looking around wildly. Claire was still standing near the corner, next to the door. She looked nervous. As if she was ready to bolt out the door at any moment. “You…” Donna took a step forward and took her hands in her own, stopping her in her tracks. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Claire smiled back. “Of course,” she whispered back.

Donna reached up and combed a hand through her hair. Claire still looked nervous, but she seemed to relax under her touch. Kaia smiled reassuringly behind her. “I’m just glad that you happened to be in the area. As horrible as that accident was.” She turned and looked back at Kaia. “We should leave you to rest.”

“But--” Jack argued.

“Shut up,” Alex hissed. She gave Kaia a meaningful look, and grabbed him by the arm. She whispered something into his ear, and his expression changed immediately. 

“Oh!” he gasped. “Uh…” Kaia smiled at him, and he smiled back. “We’ll be in the lobby if you need us.”

He gave her hand one last squeeze and followed the rest of them out. Claire stayed behind, though. Shifting her weight from foot to foot.

“Hey,”

“Hey,” Kaia said softly. She looked up. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“I…” she shook her head. To her surprise, tears filled her eyes. “I was so worried, Kaia.” 

“Me too,” she said. But that only seemed to make things worse. She turned around, hiding her face.

She was close, though. She had stepped closer after they left. Her hand trailing against hers slightly.

Kaia swallowed. 

There were a few things she could do here. But she needed to do something. She needed Claire to  _ know _ . 

Alex had been right. Jack had been right. She had been right. She knew it from the moment she walked in.

“Come here.”

She kissed her. She kissed her, and it was the best thing she had ever felt in  _ so long _ . Hell, it was the best thing she had ever done. 

“Why didn’t you say something,” she whispered. “I would’ve--”

“I didn’t know,” Claire choked. “I wished so bad, but I--”

“--I know,” Kaia cut her off. She leaned forward before she could say anything else, pressing her lips against hers softly.

**ONE MONTH LATER**

A nasty January storm blew through Sioux Falls that morning. Kaia could feel it in the air when she waved goodbye to Jack and left her apartment building. Even though the walk to  _ Deja Brew _ was not far, she still had to bundle up.

She shivered as she pulled the door handle shut, stepping into the wind. A handful of students scattered across the streets. Some of them walked the opposite direction, while others followed her to the coffeeshop. The skies were dark, but the first exams of the semester guaranteed a steady crowd. 

“Need a ride?”

Claire had pulled up beside her, her dark Corolla covered in powdery snow. She had the passenger window rolled down, grinning beneath the dome lights. 

“Claire!” She gasped. She yanked the door open with all the force she could muster and settled into the seat. “Oh god, thank you so much.”

She laughed. It was a full laugh, with her head tilting back. Kaia watched her change gears and pull the car forward. Her eyes furrowed in concentration as her hands gripped the steering wheel.

It had only been a few weeks since Kaia left the hospital. Claire had visited her nearly every day since, her eyes full of concern each time. But Kaia healed quickly, her wounds only surface level. 

They talked for a long time. All the things Claire hadn’t been able to tell her before. 

They kissed too. Claire refused to let her do more than that, but it didn’t matter. Kaia closed her eyes at the memory. 

They arrived at  _ Deja Brew  _ in minutes, the snow coming down harder than before. Claire raised her eyebrows at the sky. “I don’t like this weather,” she said. “I’ll drive you and Jack home when you’re finished.”

“Thank you,” she said. She looked at her through her eyelashes, and Claire looked back. 

She moved first, leaning over the center and pressing her lips against hers. They were soft, just like she remembered. She closed her eyes and smiled against them. After a heartbeat, she pulled away and peered into her eyes.

“Thank you,” she repeated.

“You already said that.”

She giggled. “I know. I just...I wanted to tell you. Thank you for everything.”

Claire pulled away, concern in her eyes. Kaia had grown used to that expression. It came from a place of fear. The vampires kidnapped her off stolen glances and a shot in the dark. Who was to say it wouldn’t happen again? 

But Kaia wasn’t nervous. She trusted Claire.

“Hey,” she said. 

There would be time for those conversations later. There would be time for everything later. Beneath the falling snow, she kissed her again. 

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell with me on Tumblr: [shyspyderr](https://shyspyderr.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Yell with me on Tumblr: [shyspyderr](https://shyspyderr.tumblr.com/)


End file.
